Geospatial Projects & Services

The University of Utah boasts of being the 4th node on the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), a project funded by the Department of Defense that developed into the Internet and changed the world. However, when researchers came to the University of Utah's Marriott Library trying to find more about the story, there was nothing. To aid in understanding the development of this network, an interactive timeline spanning the ARPANET's existence (1969-1980) was created, displaying a map for each year along with available node information through a user-friendly interface.

Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are a highly requested resource in libraries. Each collection of hand-made maps contains detailed surveyor information on commercial, industrial and residential sections of cities from the mid 1800's to the mid 1950's.

This project is an innovative portal for all Utah Sanborn Fire Insurance maps hosted at the J. Willard Marriott Library complete with catalog links, georeferenced Sanborn maps in both KMZ (Google Earth) and zip (ArcGIS) format for access by students, staff and faculty as well as interactive Google Earth windows displaying each set of georeferenced maps overlaid on a 3-dimensional model

This project is designed as a source material interface, bringing together materials on EPA Superfund Sites, chemical impacts with associated historical businesses along with census and demographic information from 1935-1952 as well as present day information at the click of a button, allowing the opportunity to interact with different types of information while incorporating outside information for analysis.

The Marriott Library's "Endeavor to Bring Geological Scholarship to the World" was initiated by members of the Marriott Library's Geospatial Information Committee. This project focuses on creating georeferenced versions of geological thesis and dissertation maps.

This project demonstrates the importance of preserving our local history. By examining the changes to an area over the course of several decades, an image is depicted of where we are and where we have come.

This downloadable project focuses on photos of buildings in downtown Salt Lake City. Geographically plotted in Google Earth, the historic image can be compared side-by-side to the contemporary using Google Street View.

To aid students, staff and faculty of the University of Utah as well as visitors to the J. Willard Marriott Library, this interactive interface was designed and created to assist in easily navigating and accessing information about the library. Each location contains a photo for easy identification and includes information and links about each department and the services they offer at the library. These locations can be accessed by clicking on an area of the map or by performing a keyword search for services or departments the individual is interested in.

Commissioned by the Marriott Library Green Committee, this interactive flash-based map displays the different sections of the garden including photograph slideshows, information regarding the unique garden features as well as the different species of plants that comprise the area.

To aid students, staff, faculty and visitors of the University of Utah, these maps were designed and created to assist in easily navigating and accessing information regarding campus lactation rooms, diaper changing stations as well as child care center locations and related information. Commissioned by the Child Care Coordinating Office, each hotspot contains photos for easy location identification, detailed information/directions and available program web links.

This project is a collaborative effort between the Special Collections Department and the Digital Scholarship Lab, displaying historic photographs and business histories of the Japantown area that once constituted a large portion of downtown Salt Lake City. Using a single, interactive geospatial interface, interactive 3-dimensional models have been constructed based on 1950 Salt Lake City Sanborn Fire Insurance maps to create a visualization of how the area once appeared on each block while displaying the collected materials in a way that creates an engaging learning experience for others while visualizing library materials in new and exciting ways.

Hidden Waterunveils surface water systems on the east side of Salt Lake Valley, both culinary and irrigation. Where water comes from and how it's delivered is "hidden" to us. Somehow, it crosses a jumble of political divisions and property lines and arrives at our taps. The intention of this Hidden Water web site is to make that system visible and transparent.

These geospatial maps have been created to geographically locate materials for the Western Waters Digital Library including institutional partners (indicated in red) as well as selected places of interest (indicated in green). Utilizing Google Earth and Google Maps software, points on each map were individually plotted according to their appropriate geospatial location while including links to associated materials available through the Western Water Digital Library for each topic. These links have been created to showcase all information contributed by either an individual institutional partner or by a particular geospatial location.

This geospatial project is designed as an aid to navigating and locating historical images contained within the Rocky Mountain Power Digital Photo Collection hosted at the J. Willard Marriott Library. Utilizing a spreadsheet containing coordinates, links and additional information related to each photo, this interactive Google Map has been created to allow users easy access to the digital materials within the collection. Each point on the map has been created to represent a single photograph within the collection, containing a preview of the image, information regarding the image as well as links to the location within the digital collection and the Marriott Library's website.

Geospatial services currently offered in the Digital Scholarship Lab to faculty, staff and graduate students include: